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She-Ra and the Princesses of Power Now Has a Full-Length Trailer!

The upcoming Netflix reboot, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, made a big appearance at New York Comic Con this week. Along with the previews offered to fans who attended the convention, the series also released several new stills, toys, and posters on their Facebook page as well as a brand new full-length trailer that reveals a lot more of the story and characters than the teaser we got a few weeks ago. We now have a comprehensive look at the animation, style, and design of the series. It has a very clean look to it with bold colors and round outlines with no sharp edges. We also got a brief look at She-Ra's flying unicorn, Swift Wind, who she rides gleefully over the forest. Netflix shows don't always get a lot of promotion, so I was very pleased to be able to get a glimpse at this many scenes from the series before its release on November 16th.

The trailer begins with clips of Adora hanging out with her best friend, Catra, before she learns that they are both on the wrong side. Catra is very excited about Adora's promotion to Force Captain of the Horde until Adora falls into the woods, finds a magic sword, and turns into She-Ra. When she befriends some members of the rebellion, she learns for the first time that the Horde is evil and is given the Sorceress's blessing to protect the world with her newfound identity as She-Ra, even after revealing to everyone that she was a member of the Horde. With Adora out of the picture, Catra becomes Force Captain of the Horde and is forced to stop being her friend. The complex relationship between Adora and Catra will be very interesting to expand upon with modern-day storytelling and continuity, something that the original series lacked. Once She-Ra joins the rebellion, they form the Alliance of Princesses, which is probably why the new show is called She-Ra and the Princesses of Power instead of She-Ra: Princess of Power.

Even though the character designs are admittedly much simpler than the series from the '80s, the reboot boasts beautiful backgrounds and bright colors. There's plenty of pink, purple, and sparkles, clearly indicating that the series is meant for girls. When She-Ra's new design was first revealed, there were complaints that she didn't look feminine enough. I think it's perfectly clear that she's a girl, especially when she transforms into her tiara and long flowing blonde locks, but the one trait that she and the other female characters in the show are missing is lips. Every character, including She-Ra, has a simple black line for a mouth. This doesn't bother me too much since it goes along with the simplistic style of the animation, but it does take a little getting used to since princesses are usually drawn with brightly colored lips. I think this is an interesting choice stylistically because makeup is a lot less popular among women today than it was in the '80s. The lack of sharp edges in the animation makes the show appear less threatening, which good for an action series intended for little girls.

My favorite character design from the trailer was that of Queen Angella who granted Adora the title of "Princess of Power." I love her pink and purple hair, pearlescent pink skin, white crystals hanging from her ears, forehead, and neck, and gradient pink and lavender transparent wings spread across her back. She looks much prettier and more mystical than the generic blonde-haired feather-winged character from the original series. She is not the only character who got a makeover in the reboot. Bow and Mermista, two of She-Ra's companions from the rebellion, are now people of color, giving the group more diversity, which is very important and relevant in today's world. Mermista, who says in the trailer that she wants to be on Adora's side because she "can turn into an eight-foot-tall blonde lady with a sword," is voiced by Vella Lovell, who plays Heather on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, a show that has a lot of appeal for older princess fans. She-Ra herself is voiced by Aimee Carrero, who is known for her role as Elena of Avalor, another famous princess of color.

If its trailer is any indication of what the series will be like, She-Ra and the Princess of Power is off to a very promising start. I'm looking forward to seeing more of her struggle with switching sides from evil to good, especially when she had such a close friendship with Catra as a member of the Horde. I can understand the lack of enthusiasm many fans feel toward the animation since it would look nicer with more detail, but I love the colors as well as several of the characters' designs. If it has a good enough story, the animation won't even matter that much anyway. She-Ra will draw her sword again for the Honor of Grayskull in a little over a month on November 16th. Are you ready for her?

I'm wondering since this series' version of Queen Angella said there have been multiple generations of She-Ras (& this one is just the latest) in this trailer if they might consider the 80's She-Ra (who I was a BIG fan of) the 1st of the line, possibly making her at the least the originator of the heroic mantle.

And since we don't know about this new Adora's birth family, maybe she's a genetic descendant and namesake with her civilian 1st name too and would give a stronger Grayskull connection as well.

I'm not sure if these characters will ever have to travel to Castle Grayskull but given the amount of set-up these 1st 10 eps will have to handle, I don't think we'd have any travel like that until a 2nd or even 3rd season though we might get some foreshadowing in this one.

That kind of thing might prevent He-Man fans from wondering if he's this Adora's twin bro (instead he would be an indirect ancestor due to being her ancestor's twin bro) which might make an easier transition for them because I'm not sure when or even if He-Man could appear on this show.

But even without a big He-Man connection, hopefully the presence of Bow and other male characters will prevent this show from becoming a Girl's Show Ghetto victim and allow it to have multiple seasons.

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